Recipe - Christmas Pasta Sauce

One fourth cup Extravirgin olive oil
Small carrot;*
Small onion;*
Small celery stk;*
Large garlic clove*
1 pound Italian sausage
1/3 pound Ground beef
6 One half ounce Pancetta; minced
One half teaspoon Salt
One half teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
One fourth teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg
One half cup Dry red wine
One half cup Tomato paste
1 cup Italian tomatoes; chopped
2 tablespoon Parsely *

1/2,1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms * Finely chopped
This is the other recipe I described. According to
the author, this ragu from Emilia Romagna is served by
many Italians with the traditional pasta course at
Christmas. It is really good. Enjoy 1. Soak the
porcini in warm water for at least One half hour. Remove
from the water, squeeze dry and chop. 2. Meanwhile, in
a large saucepan or flameproof casserole, heat the
olive oil over moderate heat. Add the carrot, onion
and celery and saute until the onion is golden, about
4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant,
about 1 minute. 3. Add the sausage, ground beef and
pancetta to the pan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring
to break up the meat, until the beef and sausage are
no longer pink.
Drain off any fat. Season with the salt, pepper and
nutmeg. 4. Pour in the red wine and cook, stirring
occasionally, until it evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, porcini and One half cup
of warm water. Simmer for 30 minutes. If the sauce
gets too thick, add a little more water. (The recipe

can be made to this point up to 2 days ahead. Cover
and refrigerate; reheat before serving.) Add the
parsley just before serving. FROM: SUSAN BURGESS
(PDFX51B)

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini